Investor Protection

MUMBAI: In a move to keep off fly-by-night operators, the Securities and Exchange Board of India on Thursday tightened its disclosure and investor protection (DIP) guidelines, making it necessary for companies to have minimum net tangible assets of Rs 3 crore to raise funds through public issues. The existing eligibility norms for issuers have been amended to help small and medium companies to tap the primary market without exposing the public to undue risk, Sebi said in a release on...

MUMBAI: International rating agency Moody's today said the recent international junk bond sales by domestic companies offer the best protection to investors as they have the highest overall covenant quality scores. Noting that the Indian bond covenants are strong, Moody's said the recent junk bond sales by Indiabulls Real Estate's USD 175 million (B1 stable), Delhi International Airport's USD 288 million (Ba1 stable), Lodha Developers' USD 200 million...

NEW DELHI: Prioritising investor protection in the backdrop of corporate frauds and failures worldwide, the newly-formed company affairs ministry on Wednesday said it will expedite the process of putting in place Competition Commission, National Company Law Tribunal and a comprehensive Companies Act. Minister of state for company affairs Prem Chand Gupta, said his ministry would work closely with market regulator Sebi to safeguard the interests of...

Countries with strong investor protection laws have more stable markets and attract more capital, says John Rogers , president and CEO, CFA Institute. In an exclusive interview to Rica Bhattacharyya, he talks on the impact of the global crisis on the institute's curriculum, opportunities for investment professionals, and ethics. Excerpts: Has the sustained financial turmoil prompted a curriculum review for CFA professionals? ...

LONDON: The cost of protection against overnight swings in the British pound jumped to its highest since the last parliamentary elections in 2010 on Thursday as Britons headed to vote in the most unpredictable poll for decades. But while a rise in currency and stock market option volatility indexes reflected uncertainty stemming from the vote, sterling, Britain's top share index and gilts broadly tracked international trends. UK markets have been resilient...

Think greed and the thought of stock markets can't be too far behind. The daily highs and lows generate frenetic activity. But the people managing the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) cannot partake in it. They have a job to do. Ashish Chauhan , CEO , BSE uses a cricket analogy to explain the Exchange's role. "When a cricket match is on, there is much excitement. But, it is between the players and the audience. The umpires and the stadium facility...

MUMBAI: Market regulator SEBI has constituted an eight-member advisory committee for its Investor Protection and Education Fund to educate market participants and protect their interest . The committee will recommend investor education and protection activities that may be undertaken directly by the regulator or through any other agency, SEBI said in a release while announcing the members of the committee. The committee comprises SEBI Executive Director R K...

The case involving the Sahara group and the jailing of its owner is landmark since it shows that even powerful companies that defraud investors can be brought to book. We have seen scams, Ponzi schemes and cases of unscrupulous entities running away with investors' money. There is a lot of anguish about misplaced trust, loss of precious savings of small investors, and the lack of timely identification and arrest of the fraudsters. The current Sahara case will go...

AGRA: US has sought a high level of openness, strong rules on investor protection and effective means for resolving investment disputes under its proposed Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) with India. "We're aiming for a BIT that gives a high level of openness to investment across the economy , provides strong rules on investor protection and transparency, and offers effective means for resolving investment disputes," said Robert D Hormats , US...

NEW DELHI: Protecting investors in the backdrop of the global financial crisis, which eroded a significant market capitalisation in the stock markets, topped finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's agenda at the meeting with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) board. "We generally discussed some of the problems Sebi... We shall have to address and pay attention, particularly to the basic objective of Sebi to protect investors in this current financial...

NEW DELHI: The government today said it has spent Rs 12.75 crore over past three fiscal years on promoting investor awareness and protection activities. While the Ministry of Corporate Affairs had spent Rs 4.98 crore in 2011-12, Rs 4.35 crore and Rs 3.42 crore was incurred in 2010-11 and 2009-10 on investor protection activities. The government had allocated Rs 5 crore every year for the purpose, Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot informed...

MUMBAI: Sebi today directed four promoters of Pipavav group firm, SKIL Infrastructure to partially sell their stake within three months for violating takeover norms and deposit the resulting proceeds with investor protection fund. The four promoters -- Akshita Nikhil Gandhi, Ansh Bhavesh Gandhi, Priyanka Nikhil Gandhi and Anushka Bhavesh Gandhi -- had failed to make adequate disclosures with regard to their acquisition of 1.98 lakh shares of Horizon...

By Rajat Gandhi Alternative source of funding is the new buzz word in the financial sector. Very simply it is innovation centered around various financial instruments that looks to simplify the borrowing and lending process and help businesses in their financial goals. Alternative sources of funding became very popular, especially after the financial crisis (2008) resulted in failure of number of Banks and stringent Basel III Capital adequacy norms being made...

MUMBAI: Sebi today directed two promoter entities of Kaycee Industries to partially sell their stake within three months and deposit the proceeds with the investor protection fund, for violating takeover norms. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) found that CMS Computers Ltd and CMS Traffic Systems had acquired shares of Kaycee Industries through preferential allotment that had hiked their collective stake in the company by 5.23 per cent to...

NEW DELHI: The corporate affairs ministry has charted its road map for full implementation of the new Companies Act that envisages setting up Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) and National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) within six months. The government is already in final stages of notifying rules for IEPFA and NFRA, a quasi-judicial apex body for accounting and auditing standards, also with powers to...

NEW YORK: India has not fared well in Forbes' list of the best countries for business this year, ranking 93rd out of 146 nations, behind countries like Mexico, Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka as it cited challenges like poverty and corruption that the country needs to address. Denmark topped Forbes' 9th annual ranking of the Best Countries for Business, followed by Hong Kong, New Zealand, Ireland and Sweden . The US lags behind many other...

MUMBAI: The Companies Act 2013 , expected to be fully operational by April 2014, goes a long way in protecting shareholders' interests and removes administrative burden in several areas, a KPMG study said. The Act brings modern regulations for the corporate sector and attempts to align with international requirements, a KPMG- Assocham study on the new Companies Act said. There are many areas which are subject to rules that are to be issued under the new Act....

MUMBAI: Regulator Sebi has set up a regional office at Shimla as part of efforts to broaden and deepen the securities market by educating investors to have a better understanding of their functioning. In a notification today, the Securities and Exchange Board of India said that it "has established its local office at Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) under the administrative control of its Northern Regional Office at New Delhi". The local office would look after the regulatory aspects of ...

NEW DELHI: The government plans to replace bilateral investment protection treaties with a new pact that seeks to plug loopholes and enhance legal protection of foreign investors in India as well as Indian investments abroad. Finance Ministry is moving Cabinet with a draft of a new agreement called the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) saying there is a need to revisit existing BIPAs as they do not take into account the socio economic objectives of government...